Cigar Review: CAO Costa Rica (Escaparate)

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Today’s cigar is Corona Cigar Company exclusve. According to the Corona Cigar Co.the CAO Escaparate Costa Rica cigar is unlike any cigar you’ve smoked before. The CAO Escaparate Costa Rica is a medium bodied cigar that has a naturally fermented, chocolate-brown Costa Rica maduro wrapper, an Ecuadorian binder and aged Nicaraguan filler grown in Esteli, Jalapa and Condega. The CAO Escaparate Costa Rican is a smooth earthy cigar that is one of the most complex, flavorful cigars that I’ve ever smoked. The aroma is sweet with a woody note but the flavor offers notes of coffee and earth with a slight undertone of spice. Impress your friends with this super premium, ultra exclusive cigar.

Appearance and Construction (19/20): The stick is box pressed and features a gorgeous looking wrapper which is rolled seamlessly and has virtually no veins. The cigar has two bands, the top one denoting the cigar is the Escaparate Costa Rica and features the colors of that countries flag. The band at the foot denotes the cigar comes from the Corona Cigar Co. The cigar has a silky smooth appearance that looks incredibly tasty.

Flavor & Notes (26/30): The pre-light rutual reveals notes of spice on the foot of the cigar. Once I cut the cigar with my Xikar Cigar Scissors the draw revealed sweet citric notes that almost border on lime. Upon lighting the cigar strong dry notes of earth begin to emerge with just enough pepper to keep it interesting. As we progress into the 1st third the cigar becomes less dry. The notes of earth remain and there is some coffee notes that get stronger as the cigar progresses through this section. The 2nd third of the cigar the coffee notes really take hold and the cigar has a nice underlying sweetness to it as well. The final third notes of mocha emerge with coffee remaining as well. The cigar has a dry finish.

Burn/Ash/Draw (22/25): As the cigar progressed the burn became uneven. Around the halfway point I had to touch up the cigar but it slowly began to become lopsided again. The ash was extremely firm with a salt and pepper ash. The draw was difficult on the pre-light, but once I lit it up it was perfect.

Overall (22/25): The cigar was good but it was no where near the wow factor that the MX3 gave me. If your a CAO fan like me, you should try these. They are a good smoke, but they lack the killer instinct.

Like this:

This tiny box-pressed cigar has a fairly dark maduro wrapper which is very thin compared to the common maduro wrapper, the Connecticut Broadleaf.
The draw is excellent on this cigar, and the initial flavors are rich, but muddled.
As it burns down further I begin to pick up just a slight bit of cocoa, very mild like Dutch processed cocoa powder. There was a tingle of spice on the tongue, but not much else.

Barry,
I didn't mean to impugn your credibility. I love your reviews they are truly something I look forward to every week. I was just confused as to the gushing in the beginning to the mediocre score. Thanks for clearing it up. Keep smokin' and writing and I'll keep reading!

Issues with this stick may be caused by not resting the cigar adequately. Also, I believe it's somewhat unfair to compare this solid medium Costa Rica to the much fuller MX3.
Even professional authors have editors. Once you've triple checked all your facts, have someone else look at your draft -- it helps keep your professionalism and credibility intact.

"The CAO Escaparate Costa Rica cigar is unlike any cigar you’ve smoked before...
The CAO Escaparate Costa Rican is a smooth earthy cigar that is one of the most complex, flavorful cigars that I’ve ever smoked..."
Barry,
What gives? Your pre-review review doesn't match the actual review of the cigar. How can you say this is one of the most flavorful cigars you have ever smoked and then only give it a 26/30? How can the "Overall" only get a 22 out of 25 when you said what you said in the pre-review? How can you rave in the pre-review and then give it an 89 overall? It doesn't even rate a 90? Seriously, something doesn't add up from your pre-review to the overall. What happened? I have smoke CAO in fact the LX2 and MX2 are two of my favorite cigars behind a Rocky Patel Vintage 1990, but CAO ALWAYS needs a touch up. Can that actually take enough points away to make it less than a 90? I am so perplexed.